SGT ALAN E. TWO CROW
April
9, 1975 - July 14, 2002
South Dakota
West Point: Military police officer missing
more than 2 months died apparently after falling.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 23, 2002
WEST POINT, N.Y.
– A military police officer missing for more than two months died
apparently by breaking his neck in a fall in a remote part of the U.S.
Military Academy, officials said Monday.
The decomposed body of Sgt. Alan Two Crow, 27, of the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D., was found Saturday evening in a wooded area by civilians who had joined the search.
Preliminary reports by the Army Forensic Institute for Pathology indicate he died accidentally, West Point officials said in a statement.
Two Crow and another soldier had spent the night at a friend's quarters in West Point's Stony Lonesome section.
The pair planned to pick up the friend's wife from an airport the next day, July 14, but when the friend awoke, Two Crow was gone, officials said. He didn't have a car at West Point and none of his possessions was missing, they said.
Authorities believe Two Crow left the quarters between 2:45 and 5 a.m. and headed for his barracks. But rather than take sidewalks or roads, the soldier took a shortcut through extremely steep land that featured cliff-like terrain, a post spokesman said.
Eric Milland of New York City and Charlie Hetman, a West Point civilian defense worker, searched for Two Crow after his family complained that the search was lax.
The civilians scoured steep woods Saturday night and found the body off a trail Two Crow would have taken to get to the barracks from the housing complex, officials said.
West Point officials said they had conducted an intensive search for Two Crow, who was listed as a missing person on the National Crime Information Center.
"We conducted a thorough search of the area for several days with dogs in difficult terrain where we were guessing where the body was," said Col. Harry Rosenthal, post provost marshal.
Post spokesman Lt. Col. James Whaley said 20 different dog teams, 50-60 soldiers and dozens of police officers were used in the search that included probes in the area where Two Crow's body was found.
"We used every asset available to us to find Sergeant Two Crow," Whaley said. "He was an MP. These were MPs looking for him. They were looking for one of their own."
Whaley said the investigation was continuing and toxicology results are expected in about 10 days.
Two Crow, who had just re-enlisted, was to be reassigned to Fort Carson, Colo., to be closer to family. He was recently named West Point's "Soldier of the Month."
Army Sgt. Alan Two-Crow was buried yesterday at the reservation where he grew up, 13 days after his body was found in rugged woods at West Point.
The recent "Soldier of the Month" at West Point, a military police officer well liked by his post friends and valued by academy officials as "one of our own," died from a broken neck, a recent Army autopsy found.
Results haven't been released of a second autopsy demanded by his family. Two civilians discovered his remains after an extensive military and state police search of academy grounds failed to turn up his body. The second autopsy was done at a civilian hospital in South Dakota.
Two-Crow, a Lakota, was buried at the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. He was laid to rest next to his mother, who died in May.
He was a source of pride, said his father, Don Two-Crow.
"The tribe [before his death] gave him an eagle feather," said the father, an honor for doing so well in the military. The eagle is sacred because it, like his son, flies so high, his father said.
Hundreds of Indians from surrounding tribes trooped to the huge reservation to pay their respects to Two-Crow in the tribe's cultural center. He was given a traditional ceremony as well as a Christian one. His father said mourners prayed for his spirit to have a safe journey.
A Fort Carson, Colo., Army honor guard fired salutes, while West Point brass, including the garrison commander, Two-Crow's battalion and company commanders, and his battalion chaplain, paid their respects.
"Sgt. Two-Crow was part of our family here so we sent a contingent to South Dakota at the family's invitation to meet with them," said West Point spokesman Maj. Kent Cassella. "Our purpose was to help them through their time of loss."
Cassella said a private West Point memorial service will be held next week. Family members are expected to attend.
The decomposed body of Sgt. Alan Two Crow, 27, of the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D., was found Saturday evening in a wooded area by civilians who had joined the search.
Preliminary reports by the Army Forensic Institute for Pathology indicate he died accidentally, West Point officials said in a statement.
Two Crow and another soldier had spent the night at a friend's quarters in West Point's Stony Lonesome section.
The pair planned to pick up the friend's wife from an airport the next day, July 14, but when the friend awoke, Two Crow was gone, officials said. He didn't have a car at West Point and none of his possessions was missing, they said.
Authorities believe Two Crow left the quarters between 2:45 and 5 a.m. and headed for his barracks. But rather than take sidewalks or roads, the soldier took a shortcut through extremely steep land that featured cliff-like terrain, a post spokesman said.
Eric Milland of New York City and Charlie Hetman, a West Point civilian defense worker, searched for Two Crow after his family complained that the search was lax.
The civilians scoured steep woods Saturday night and found the body off a trail Two Crow would have taken to get to the barracks from the housing complex, officials said.
West Point officials said they had conducted an intensive search for Two Crow, who was listed as a missing person on the National Crime Information Center.
"We conducted a thorough search of the area for several days with dogs in difficult terrain where we were guessing where the body was," said Col. Harry Rosenthal, post provost marshal.
Post spokesman Lt. Col. James Whaley said 20 different dog teams, 50-60 soldiers and dozens of police officers were used in the search that included probes in the area where Two Crow's body was found.
"We used every asset available to us to find Sergeant Two Crow," Whaley said. "He was an MP. These were MPs looking for him. They were looking for one of their own."
Whaley said the investigation was continuing and toxicology results are expected in about 10 days.
Two Crow, who had just re-enlisted, was to be reassigned to Fort Carson, Colo., to be closer to family. He was recently named West Point's "Soldier of the Month."
USMA's Two-Crow laid to rest
By Wayne A. Hall
The Times Herald-Record
waynehall@th-record.com
By Wayne A. Hall
The Times Herald-Record
waynehall@th-record.com
Army Sgt. Alan Two-Crow was buried yesterday at the reservation where he grew up, 13 days after his body was found in rugged woods at West Point.
The recent "Soldier of the Month" at West Point, a military police officer well liked by his post friends and valued by academy officials as "one of our own," died from a broken neck, a recent Army autopsy found.
Results haven't been released of a second autopsy demanded by his family. Two civilians discovered his remains after an extensive military and state police search of academy grounds failed to turn up his body. The second autopsy was done at a civilian hospital in South Dakota.
Two-Crow, a Lakota, was buried at the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. He was laid to rest next to his mother, who died in May.
He was a source of pride, said his father, Don Two-Crow.
"The tribe [before his death] gave him an eagle feather," said the father, an honor for doing so well in the military. The eagle is sacred because it, like his son, flies so high, his father said.
Hundreds of Indians from surrounding tribes trooped to the huge reservation to pay their respects to Two-Crow in the tribe's cultural center. He was given a traditional ceremony as well as a Christian one. His father said mourners prayed for his spirit to have a safe journey.
A Fort Carson, Colo., Army honor guard fired salutes, while West Point brass, including the garrison commander, Two-Crow's battalion and company commanders, and his battalion chaplain, paid their respects.
"Sgt. Two-Crow was part of our family here so we sent a contingent to South Dakota at the family's invitation to meet with them," said West Point spokesman Maj. Kent Cassella. "Our purpose was to help them through their time of loss."
Cassella said a private West Point memorial service will be held next week. Family members are expected to attend.
